Ali Mazrui, who has died at the age of 81, is regarded as one of Africa's foremost intellectuals. The BBC's Frenny Jowi looks back at how the Kenyan academic and political writer influenced a post-colonial generation.

Mr Mazrui has been a household name in Kenya and beyond.

Born in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on 24 February 1933, some 20 years before the Mau Mau uprising against British colonial rule, he always portrayed himself as a true patriot.

In his series of essays On Heroes and Uhuru-Worship, he wrote as an African scholar deeply involved in the fight for the freedom of his people, expressing empathy with those on the front line of the battle against colonialists.

"What about blaming the freedom fighter for the atrocities committed by the security forces contending him?" he asked.

Mr Mazrui lamented the growing influence of the West on societies across the world.

"Even the very vices of Western culture are acquiring worldwide prestige. Muslim societies which once refrained from alcohol are now manifesting increasing alcoholism," he said in a speech in 2000 at an event hosted by the Royal African Society and the BBC in London.

"Chinese elites are capitulating to Kentucky Fried Chicken and MacDonald hamburgers. And Mahatma Gandhi's country has decided to go nuclear."